"And the diplomats from Saddle Arabia?"

"Well fed and cared for." Silver Script smiled, bowing. "They've taken up residence in the guest rooms of the East Tower. We’ve done our best to give them every creature comfort possible."

"Very good." Celestia closed her eyes and leaned back in her throne, enjoying the warmth of the sunlight on her face. The throne room was strangely quiet this morning; it seemed that, impossibly enough, she'd managed to give out enough errands and chores that none of her staff had the time to bother her. It was a nice change from the normal pandemonium of the palace, let alone the hellish landscape of politics and money that she'd had to deal with while organizing the Wedding.

"There is one other thing."

She cracked open an eye and fixed Script with her steady gaze. "Oh?" She hoped it would make him flinch; she always loved it when they did that. For some reason, the stare of an immortal diarch seemed to make certain ponies uncomfortable.

It wasn't the most respectable way to pass the time, but given the circumstances of any given city council meeting, she felt that it was more than justified. Distracting her advisor from his next droning report was only an added bonus.

Of course, Script went on regardless, as unruffled as ever. She sighed as he merely rearranged his glasses and removed a quill from his saddlebags. It seemed he'd decided to bring up the latest inflation problem. Lovely.

She was pleasantly surprised when, having resigned herself to another lecture the Royal Treasury's policies, the doors to her throne room creaked open, and Twilight Sparkle trotted through.

"If you'll excuse me, Script, it seems that my faithful student has need of me for something." Celestia coughed lightly into her shoulder and adjusted the tiara resting above her horn. "I'm sure you wouldn’t mind if we rescheduled this briefing for later in the day: say, three o'clock?"

Three was the time when Script's wife expected him home for afternoon tea, and both he and Celestia knew that fact well. With a small quirk of his mouth and a flicker of disapproval in his eyes, he gave a single, calculated nod and began to pack up his things.

"Twilight," Celestia said warmly. She picked herself up from her throne and strode down the dais, putting on her most welcoming smile. "It's been too long. How have you been?"

"Princess." Twilight offered a slight nod, her head averted to the side. Celestia pursed her lips and strode forward. Her student's mane covered her eyes, concealing much of her face. With a gentle push of her wing, she reached forward and lifted Twilight's chin to look into her eyes. She sucked in a deep sharp breath.

There was pain there: anguish, sorrow, and loneliness. She felt her heart drop as she stared, watching a kaleidoscope of emotion swirling in Twilight's eyes. Any other pony wouldn't have known what to look for, but Celestia knew the signs. A fire flickered in her chest, and she took a deep breath, struggling to contain her emotions. Who would dare do this to her? Who could possibly…?

On the outside, she was still, her face holding nothing more than vague concern. A thousand thoughts ran through her head, but it took her only a fraction of a second to force them back down. After thousands of years, controlling her emotions had become a simple task.

"What's wrong?" she asked sharply. Her wing lifted Twilight's chin further up until she was looking directly into her eyes. “What's happened?"

"You were just about to have a meeting on finance and inflation."

Celestia blinked, a few hairs prickling on the back of her neck. For an instant, she wondered if she’d heard her right. “I’m sorry?"

"One of your gardeners is going to fall from the window he was cleaning within the next five seconds." Not a beat later, there came a strangled scream. As Celestia's head whirled, she caught a glimpse of a wriggling shadow falling across the window and landing with a thump in a bush below. She gasped.

"He'll be fine.” Twilight licked her lips. “Except he'll have to take work off for the rest of the day, and his hoof will be sprained." She paused, her eyes shifting toward the entrance. "Oh, and Princess Luna is about to come through those doors."

"Sister, I cannot believe you would tell the Head Chef that I—" Luna stopped midstep, freezing between the doors as she glanced over the pair. "Ah. My apologies. Am I interrupting something?"

Celestia's mouth went dry. Things suddenly seemed stranger than she cared to admit.

"It is of little consequence." Luna's cheeks tinged red, and she took a step back. "Perhaps I should come back later?"

"No." The word was out of her mouth before she'd even realized it. Celestia shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "Stay. Please."

Luna tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at the two of them. "Is something happening that I must be privy to?"

Celestia sighed and glanced at Twilight, who was still staring at the ground. Her “hoof was moving in small, looping circles over the floor, and the Princess felt another stab of cold, controlled fury in her heart. She closed her eyes and calmed her breathing. “You might say that."

"Very well, then."

Celestia took a moment to consider her next words. "Now, Twilight. What was that all about?" She paused. "And, I suppose, how exactly did you know what was going to happen?"

When Twilight finally spoke, her voice was weak and her knees wobbled and shook. "Princess," she said slowly, hesitantly. "Do you remember when I cast that time-travelling spell?"

Celestia blinked, the memories surfacing in the back of her mind. "I believe so." She frowned, her brow furrowing. "It was from the Star Swirl the Bearded wing of the Royal Archives, if I’m not mistaken.”

Twilight nodded. "Yep." She looked down at her hooves again and swallowed. “Would you believe me if I said that it was possible for time to not only turn back, but to loop?"

Celestia froze.

"To repeat?"

She felt a shiver run down her spine and exchanged a glance with Luna.

"To stop in place? And that it was happening, right now?"

Her mouth went dry once more, and the room suddenly seemed very, very quiet.

Twilight shook her head with a mirthless bark of laughter, and the pain was returned to her eyes. "I know it sounds ridiculous, and believe me, I've looked myself—there's no instance of it happening before, but—"

“I believe you.”

There was a beat of silence, Celestia’ three words hanging in the air. Twilight was looking up at her, mouth working furiously, but no sound coming out. Beside her, Celestia could feel Luna’s aura flaring up in shock before it settled back into a colder, more defensive position.

“I…” Twilight hung her head and exhaled slowly. “Thank you.” As she looked up again, Celestia made a small gesture with her head, as if to say “go on.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “It’s really happening. I’m trapped—trapped in time—and I can’t escape.”

"Oh?" Luna asked sharply. "And how can this be?”

"It's this week. The week of the Wedding." Twilight shook her head and rubbed her eyes, looking more tired than Celestia had ever seen her before. "I've relived it almost half a dozen times now, and it just keeps happening. At first, I thought it was related to the changeling invasion, but even that didn't—"

"Wait." Celestia held up a hoof. "...Did you say 'changeling invasion'?"

"I—"

"Impossible." Luna stomped forward and glared. "From what I have read, the changelings have not been seen for centuries!"

"Which is true," Celestia put in. According to all her sources, the changelings were still a disorganized horde of scavengers far away in the Badlands. “But perhaps we should give her a moment to speak.” Luna scowled.

Twilight took another deep breath. "It doesn't matter. I've tried to stop them before. I've even succeeded, but it was no use." She shrugged, a helpless look crossing her face. "Time just reset, and...well…” She bit her lip and looked away.

Invasion...reset... Celestia closed her eyes. Oh, no. That meant that Twilight had seen this apparent invasion occur, multiple times, even. What would it be like to see everything you know and love destroyed before your eyes over and over again, knowing that you were powerless to stop it?

"Pardon me for my doubts, Twilight Sparkle, but what proof have we of your story?" Luna raised her chin and frowned down at her. “Even if what you say of this invasion is true, we have no reason to ignore it for apparent “uselessness.” We must do all that we can to protect Canterlot."

Celestia's heart sank, and she shook her head, a sad smile on her face. Luna had grown fiercely attached to her home and subjects in the time since her return, especially following the events of that Nightmare Night in Ponyville. Perhaps a little too zealous.

Twilight looked taken aback at Luna's response. "I—"

“Again: I believe her."

Luna blinked.

“I said it before: I trust her, and believe her completely." Celestia curled one wing protectively around Twilight's side, holding her tight. "Luna, you have your reasons—and they are legitimate—but I know my student. She wouldn't lie about something like this."

"Perhaps she is mistaken, then," Luna suggested. "Somehow confused."

"No."

Celestia turned to face her sister. "We cannot ignore this fact because of its inconvenience, Luna," she said quietly. "Painful memories cannot be an obstacle to moving forward. We must act to help Twilight, even if the remembrance of times long past make us...reluctant to do so." Her eyes narrowed. "An event such as this may cause great damage to Canterlot, and even Equestria if left unchecked."

Luna stared, her expression unreadable. "Very well," she said flatly. "Should you need me, I shall be in my rooms. Good day, sister." She turned to go. The sound of her horseshoes slowly faded as the doors closed behind her, her steps echoing through the corridors.

Celestia winced as the throne room doors shut with a heavy thud. Oh, Luna.

Twilight’s mouth hung slightly open. "What—"

“Forgive my sister,” Celestia murmured. “The important thing is that I may know of something that can aid you.” She picked her head up and looked into Twilight’s face, a note of confidence returning to her voice. “A spell that I once used, long, long ago.”

A fire lit up in her student's eyes, something hopeful and bright flickering there for the first time since she'd entered the room.

"However," Celestia went on, “a thousand years can be a long time. I am afraid that I can no longer remember the spell on my own or, if I do, that it's been reduced to a vague set of generalities and ideas."

Twilight wilted. "Then why—?”

“—Would I bring it up?" Celestia arched an eyebrow. "I may not remember it personally, but you of all ponies should know that there's one thing that can never forget."

She could see the cogs and wheels turning in Twilight’s head, and her eyes soon widened in realization. "Books!"

"Exactly." Celestia turned toward the great throne room doors, her tracing across the intricate designs carved into their gold faces. "I had the spell recorded by one of the royal scholars, should Equestria ever have need of it again." Her voice softened, and she swung her head back to face her student. "And it would appear that we do."

"Then—"

"There is one problem, however." Celestia shook her head, inwardly irritated at her lack of foresight. "As I said before, a thousand years is quite a long amount of time. The book—or scroll, rather—in which I had the spell recorded exists somewhere in the Canterlot Archives, but I would be unable to say exactly where."

She sighed. "Still, should we find it, it should serve as a good starting point to resolve your situation." She paused, somewhat startled, as she felt a tight embrace around her front legs.

"Thank you," Twilight murmured, burying her face into her mentor's chest and hugging her tightly. "Thank you."

A small, warm smile settled onto Celestia's face. "For believing you?"

"For everything."

They stayed like that for a moment. It had been too long since they had been like this: teacher and student—or perhaps something more—alone together in the silence.

She soon felt something tugging on her mind, however, and frowned.

"Now, I realize that you may see it as unimportant, but what can you tell me of this changeling invasion?" She rolled her eyes at Twilight's bewildered expression and grinned. "Humor me."

"I believe you're familiar with both the New Archives and the Starswirl the Bearded Wing, right?” Celestia swung her neck to face Twilight, who was trotting beside her.

Twilight's brow furrowed as the pair passed a large tapestry adorned by an hourglass and a lightning bolt. "Wait, the New Archives? I thought it was just the Archives."

"So most ponies believe," Celestia said. "However, there are many works that are quite ancient and therefore either very delicate, very dangerous, or both. These tomes can only be handled by premiere Equestrian scholars—and of course, Luna and myself." She stepped over the threshold of the Archives, nodding to the twin guards that watched the entrance. "I had planned to give you full access once you were ready to begin your magical thesis in a year or so, but it would seem it's become necessary earlier than I expected."

She stopped in place and looked up at a large pair of double doors, carved from oak and gilded with old, polished bronze. "We're here."

Twilight's eyebrows went up, her eyes widening as well. "I'd always wondered where these led to," she murmured. "I thought it was a storage room or something."

Celestia chuckled and took a step forward. "You might call it that. Certainly, it lacks the same buzz of activity that the rest of the Archives has."

"So...does it need a key?" Twilight looked up at her teacher, who merely smiled back.

"Only of a very specific type." Celestia's eyes glittered and she moved her head to one side. "Make sure to step over so that the doors don't hit you." Twilight quickly obliged.

"I've always looked forward to showing you this," Celestia said quietly. A golden glow sprung up around her horn, energy swirling at its tip. Her smile grew wider, and she gave Twilight a proud look. "I think you're going to like this a lot."

Her horn touched the doors, and they slowly swung open.

Twilight gaped as the contents were laid bare before her eyes. It was a treasure like that of a genie's hoard from Saddle Arabian folklore. But for her, it was even richer: after all, knowledge was infinitely more valuable than gold.

Books, scrolls, and tomes of every shape and size filled groaning, ancient bookshelves carved of cedar and willow. The walls were decorated by tattered paintings and ancient artifacts; at a glance, she would swear theat they predated even the paleo-Pony period. The corridors of books stretched far into the distance, making it difficult to predict where they came to an end. She shivered, and not out of fear. Maybe they never do.

Her horn buzzed, and she noticed a small enchantment warding the shelves against mildew and decay.  She barely registered it, however, being much more interested in what the spells were protecting.

She felt her heart soar as she galloped up to the first shelf to get a closer look. Her eyes grew to the size of saucers as she caught sight of the first few titles. "In Thine Eie of the Moon," she murmured, reading off the spine of one brown, beat-up tome. "The Invafion of the Lower Equeftrian Ifles. Moste Potente Potions And Particulares." Her mouth moved, but she struggled to get the words out. “I—these books are ancient! I can't imagine how many centuries of work went into assembling a collection like this!"

"When one has millenia to collect, the task becomes a bit easier."

"I'll say," Twilight breathed. She twisted from side to side, almost unable to take it all in. "I have no idea how many books are in here. There must be thousands—or even more!"

"You wouldn't be mistaken."

"Wait..." She faltered, feeling her heart sink and her exuberant mood begin to fade. "Thousands of books...and only one holds the key to the spell that we need."

Celestia nodded, and the room took on a more sombre mood. "Unfortunately, as hard as the Master Librarians have tried, the Old Archives have fallen into disrepair and disorganization over the centuries. They also lack many modern conveniences, such as the Hoovey Decimal System."

Twilight frowned, thinking. "Does it have a magical catalogue program?”

"Those were only invented recently," Celestia reminded her gently. "Not even Starswirl or his precursors had knowledge of such things; for a traditional mage, the location of every book in their sanctum was stored in their head."

"Great." Twilight glared at the bookshelves as her elation made the final change to outright irritation. Finally, she sighed, allowing a weak smile to cross her face. "Still...once we find the spell, that'll be it, right?"

"I hope so."

"And I've got all the time I need." She chuckled quietly, though privately hoping that she wouldn't need too much time. I don't think I want to live my life out in these loops, even if it's in company of all these books. After all, how long could it take?

One more glance at the labyrinth of books made her pause, though, and she gulped. "Well. Time to get started."

"Mysteries of Magick...Ascension of the Spheres...Tales of Fâerie For Föles." Twilight groaned, shaking her head as she passed through yet another fruitless shelf. That makes...what, twenty-five? Thirty? In all honesty, she'd quickly lost count. Celestia had hinted that the book—er, scroll—had a title relating to Chaos Magic, for some reason, but apart from an assembly of children's stories involving a trickster mage, she'd found absolutely nothing even remotely related to such a thing.

With a sigh, she almost automatically reached a hoof up and plucked Ascension of the Spheres from its place on the shelf. Maybe a bit of light reading would help alleviate her boredom and clear her mind.

An old cushion a few rows looked like proved a good place to settle and read. The fabric was old and musty, making her sneeze a few times as she made to lie down, but it was comfortable enough.

Spheres was a small book, only a few dozen pages thick. She snuggled into her makeshift bed and opened it, the thin spine crackling quietly in protest.

Our Ruler, Celeste, was borne from the Fountain Beyond Time, in a Place past the Edges of the World. Created of primordial Flesh, a Being of Light and Aether, and of the Rays of the Sun. Her Sister, Lune, sprung forth from the Waters, the Stars of the Sky her mane, and vanished into the Spheres above. The two learned and played amongst the Heavens, and from their Souls was borne the Earthe of Equestria.

In the First Cataclysm, the Tears of Celeste created the Oceans and inland Seas. After the Second Cataclysm, of Fire and the Deep Flame, Lune grew tired of the empty Realm, and persuaded her divine Sister to create Companions for them. And so was the Equine Race borne, of the Thoughts of the Sun and Heart of the Moon...

Twilight giggled to herself as she turned the page. She'd heard quite a few proposed "myths" for Celestia and Luna's origins—the Princesses themselves were quite tight-lipped on the subject—but this book appeared to hold a much more elaborate story. For a moment, she wondered if it were true, but quickly cast that aside. Silly. Celestia isn't some kind of omnipotent, ancient deity. She's just the Princess!

Still, the book was amusing enough and it soon ensnared her with its tales of Equestria's past. It seemed to be a history book, yet one interwoven with a rich tapestry of myths and legends. In the same chapter as the birth of a great king, for example, she might also hear of a diabolic beast, escaped from Tartarus and defeated  by a mighty hero. When she heard that particular tale, a shiver ran down her spine; from her own experiences with Cerberus and the Hellgate rotation of the Royal Guard, she knew enough about Tartarus to believe that there was at least some truth to the legends.

She turned a page and blinked, taking in the title.

The Battle of the Pony Sisters: The Eclipse War.

This was interesting. I didn't expect the book to come this far in time, she thought, frowning. The way Celestia spoke of them, most of the manuscripts in here are far older than Equestria itself, but relatively speaking, this one must be pretty new. She paused for a moment and then shook her head, giggling. A thousand years old...heh. "New."

Fidgeting into a better position on her cushion, she settled back down and began to read. It appeared that Ascension was a compilation of various sources; the vernacular here was much different from what she’d read earlier. That didn’t mean that it was any less interesting, though.

The Eclipse War began with an innocent plea. The ponies of fair Equestria deigned to play in the day beneath the rays of the sun, rather than in the light of the moon at night. Thus, Princess Luna requested of her sister that the night be lengthened, so that more of their subjects might enjoy the starry skies and dusks that she had so painstakingly constructed.

Yet Celestia rejected her plea. The ponies of the earth needed proper sunlight to grow their crops; they were not as dogs or moles, consuming gems and minerals beneath the earth. And so Luna's jealousy grew, and with it, a darkness in her heart...

Twilight nodded to herself as she read on. This, at least, was familiar territory. Her eyes skimmed further down the page, though, and her eyebrows slowly crept upwards on her forehead. Here was something new...

The War was fought through proxy and cunning as much as with power and direct combat. Even as Nightmare Moon summoned dark beasts and corrupted soldiers to fight against Celestia's knights and spellcasters, the former was hard at work constructing a spell that would allow her to gain utmost control over the night. Although the War was begun with the titular Eclipse, the battle for control of the skies was a daily occurrence, and one that the Nightmare won only barely each day.

She devised a plot, drawing on her dark magicks and hidden knowledge as the Moon is wont to do, and soon set that plan into motion. Her power, strengthened by jealousy and hatred, was not enough to overcome her sister completely, and so she plotted to use the sands of time against the Sun.

Twilight blinked a few more times, her eyes widening. Wait a minute...

Within ten seconds, she'd devoured the rest of the page.

The Nightmare knew that the rotation of the Sun and Moon, though channeled through the power of the Holy Sisters, was a natural cycle, innate to the universe itself. So she developed a spell that would allow her to halt that cycle in its place, freezing the rise of the Sun and the set of the Moon as it was for all eternity.

The Sun would rise, but would be returned to its other horizon; the Moon remained locked at its apex for day after countless day. With each failed cycle, nature itself would steal away Celestia' energy and strength, continuing until such a time as she could no longer defend agaisnt the attacks of the Nightmare.

The casting of such magic would be Nightmare Moon's downfall, however; it was only afterward, when she was left momentarily weak and despondent of energy, that Celestia seized the opportunity to attack her stronghold with an overwhelming host. It was there that she defeated her sister and ensnared her in the Moon using the Elements of Harmony. On that fateful eve, a prophecy was given, stating that the Nightmare would yet return after a thousand years’ solitude.

At the bottom, hidden in a footnote, was a sentence marked in neat, dark font: The spell itself would only be broken a year later by a team of accomplished magi, working under Celestia's direction.

A spell to stop time in place... Twilight's heart beat faster in her chest. An endless cycle, keeping the Sun locked in place, and the Moon above all Equestria...

Her eyes snapped wide open. That's it!

What if this spell was the one that Celestia had asked her to look for? What if the time loop that Twilight was trapped in was similar to the one that Nightmare Moon herself had created a millenium ago? She stopped in place, thinking.

What if Luna knew something about her situation? What if she could help?

Twilight shut the book with a thump. There was only one way to find out.

It was dark outside by the time Twilight left the Archives, and she found much of the Palace grounds to be deserted but for the occasional pair of patrolling guards. Her way was lit by the yellow lanterns marking the halls and by the dim glow of the shield bubble above the city.

She found Luna easily enough: the Princess was in the throne room, minding the Night Court while her sister rested. The room was empty, though; it appeared that few ponies had need to call upon the Princess of the Night, even after all she'd done to make herself available to the populace. Twilight's hooves echoed on the hard floors as she crossed the room, wondering what she would say.

Luna looked up from a scroll she'd been perusing and flung it aside, leaving it to flutter onto a table piled high with papers and parchment. "Twilight Sparkle! It is good to see you." She smiled, an honest, warm smile that Twilight knew she'd been practicing since her return to the royal court. "Tell me, how I may I assist my subject? The Night Court is open for your appeal."

Twilight held a hoof up to her chin and grinned awkwardly. "I'm actually not here about the Court, Princess."

Luna's cheeks flushed and she chuckled under her breath. "That is our—my mistake, then. Perhaps I have been a bit overeager in taking on my royal responsibilities." She straightened up in her seat on the throne. "Tell me, then: what did you come here for tonight?"

Twilight grinned and reached into the saddlebag that she'd had strapped to her side. It jumbled in her grasp, the many books inside tumbling over one another as she retrieved Ascension of the Spheres from its place near the top. "Princess Celestia had me going through the Old Archives today, and I found a reference in one of the books that I don't think I quite understand.

Luna quirked an eyebrow inquisitively. "Oh? And what research might that be for?"

"Um." Twilight blinked, slightly confused at Luna's response. "Research into...well, the time loops? You know, what we were talking about the other day?"

The Princess gave a curt nod as her smile faded into a more tired look. "Ah. Of course. What is this question you had for me?"

"Well, I was looking through this book here," Twilight said, levitating Spheres into the air so that it was more clearly visible. "It had a lot about early myths and legends—especially about you and Princess Celestia—and I found one section that talked about events in the past thousand years."

"And?" Luna was frowning slightly now, evidently unsure of where this was going. Or at least, Twilight hoped that she was unsure. Regardless of the circumstances, this was going to be a bit awkward, especially considering the source material.

She swallowed and offered her best grin, though the overall effect was somewhat more akin to a grimace. "Well, there was one part in particular that dealt with the Eclipse War."

Luna's gaze became positively stony.

Twilight cleared her throat and went on. "So there was all of the standard stuff in there about the Moon and Sun, and some other things about the battles themselves—"

Luna's frown deepened into a scowl.

"—But one thing that I noticed was that, at one point, Nightmare Moon tried to freeze the Moon in place by using a...time-lock...spell." Twilight's voice faltered, and she trailed off, wincing at the look on the Princess's face. "I was...er...wondering if you might know anything about that and how it...um..." She gulped. "Worked."

When she finally opened her mouth and spoke, Luna's voice was flat, her features unreadable and her eyes cold. "My apologies, Twilight Sparkle," she said quietly as she got up from her seat on the throne. "I do believe I have forgotten an appointment. Please excuse me." She swept down from the dais and past Twilight, her starry mane waving in the air as the great doors opened for her.

Twilight stared after her, breath caught in her chest. Oh, dear... She flinched as the great doors to the throne room slammed shut before her, the sound echoing like a shot in the large, empty chamber.

With her tail between her legs, she hung her head, sat on the floor, and sighed.

"But why would she react like that?"

Celestia sighed as Twilight looked out over the Palace walls, staring into the sunset. "Memories can last a long time," she said gently.

"But I didn't mean anything by it!" Twilight looked stricken, and Celestia felt a pang of guilt in her chest. Oh, Twilight. She knows that you don't...

"You may not have," she said. "But for Luna, those memories are painful—moreso than even I can imagine—and merely invoking them can bring out old skeletons." She curled a wing around Twilight's shoulder. "Do you know why she worked so hard to ingratiate herself with the public when she returned?"

Twilight's brow furrowed, and she chewed on her lip. Celestia couldn't help but smile lightly as she saw it; her student always looked completely adorable whenever she fell back into that habit.

"Because she didn't want to be rejected?"

Celestia nodded. "Exactly." The feathers of her wings reached around Twilight's side, gently lifting her head to face her. "She was afraid."

She smiled sadly and gazed into Twilight's eyes. "Us alicorns like to pretend that we're stronger than we really are, but Luna was terrified of being rejected. Terrified of being labelled her past self. Terrified, even after the Elements of Harmony had purified her, that she might still be unworthy of taking back her place in Equestria."

"But that's ridiculous!" Twilight stomped a hoof, scowling. "Princess Luna might be a little intimidating at times, but she's not even close to being Nightmare Moon! How could she think that?"

Celestia shook her head. "Are we ever that logical, Twilight? Can you say that even you have never fallen prey to an irrational fear?"

Twilight shrank back. "Well..."

"You saw it yourself at Nightmare Night," Celestia said. "She wanted so hard to be accepted, but the residents of Ponyville were scared of her. Legend had grown up to the point where it had overcome reality, and she was frightened that it had come to swallow the truth up completely." She looked up at the sky, the moon rising in the distance. "She later confided in me that she was more afraid than anything of snapping again that night: of becoming the Nightmare that all the town expected her to be."

Twilight shuddered, and Celestia felt a bit of sadness as realization dawned in her student's eyes. "I guess that makes sense," she said in a small voice.

"Be patient with her," Celestia said gently. "I myself had many questions for her following her return—many of which I have been willing to leave unanswered—but if you give her time, she will confide in you. Such a history is difficult to leave behind."

Twilight groaned and hung her head. "This isn't going to be easy, is it?"

Celestia's mouth twitched upward into a small smile, and she curled the tip of one wing around Twilight's mane. "I will admit I hadn't thought of that particular spell," she said honestly. "The Nightmare had many weapons in the War of the Eclipse, and it had slipped my mind that I had reused that particular branch of magic in combatting her." She leaned in close so that her eyes were looking directly into Twilight's. "I believe that if anypony can convince her to talk about what happened then, however, it would be you, Twilight."

Twilight swallowed and cracked a weak-looking grin. Celestia mentally tsked: she knew that look well enough to recognize it as her student's go-to face when she thought she'd failed a test or forgotten an assignment. "Well...I'll do my best."

"It would be for your own benefit, I suppose." Celestia put a hoof to her chin. "Although I did have confidence that my own spell would be sufficient, having Luna—who's actually performed the original magic—present would be very welcome, and possibly even necessary to free you." She shook her head. “Luna is far more experienced in the temporal arts than I; it may well be that we won’t be able to properly modify the spell without her assistance.”

Twilight's smile—well, grimace—melted into a more neutral expression. "I hope so," she murmured. After a moment, though, her brow furrowed, and she narrowed her eyes, looking as though she'd encountered a particularly difficult algebra problem. "So if it wasn't for Nightmare Moon, how did you originally create that spell, anyway?"

"Ah, now that's a story for another day." Celestia winked, though for an instant, a shadow had passed over her face, carrying an eternity's worth of memories involving that particular kind of magic. She smiled anyway. "Once we've found the scroll carrying it, I'll tell you the whole thing."

"Promise?"

"Absolutely."

They stood there for a moment more, enjoying the warmth of the sun and each other's embrace.

A sound began to ring in Twilight's ears. She grunted and poked the side of her head, but the noise didn't go away. Instead, it only intensified, growing in volume until a dull buzz filled the entire balcony.

"What's that noise?" Celestia blinked and looked over her shoulder with a frown. "Odd."

For a moment, Twilight's heart leapt into her throat, but she stopped herself before she began to panic. The sound was too low-pitched to be the buzzing of changeling wings, or even parasprites. She raised a hoof to stifle a snicker, imagining a cloud of adorable, colorful spheres succeeding in penetrating a perfect shield where an army had not.

She blinked. Celestia was talking, but no words came from her mouth.

"Princess, I can't quite hear—"

The buzzing crackled, and for an instant became a shrill, piercing screech.

Twilight fell to the ground, her hooves clasped over her ears as the noise wracked her body, tearing through her inner ear and pounding against her eardrums. She let out a grunt of pain as she writhed on the ground, but managed to twist her head to one side to see Celestia beside her. The Princess's face was frozen into an expression of horror, the rest of her body frozen still like a stone statue. Her hooves trembled on the stone floor, and her wings shook as if they were being pelted with hailstones.

As Twilight looked up into the sky, the veins behind her eyes throbbed: the sky seemed to blend into a muddle of unnatural hues that hurt to even look at. The clouds twisted, cracks running across the sky. As she tried to cover her face, one hoof lagged behind the rest of her leg as though it were being dragged through molasses. It twisted, and she let out a cry of pain.

And just as suddenly, it was over.

She gasped for air, her heart beating like a drum in the cavity of her chest. Sweat dripped down her face and sides with a sickly sheen, her eyes burning. Beside her, Celestia let out a low groan as she shook her head and closed her eyes.

"What...what was that?" Twilight asked, swallowing. Her tongue felt like sandpaper, and her throat burned as though filled with flames. Her head was pounding. As she turned her head to look into the Princess's eyes, she noticed that they were red, moist, and bloodshot.

Celestia looked out into the distance. "Something that I haven't seen for a long time," she whispered. "Something impossible."

"Can you—"

"We will discuss this another time." She turned away from the balcony and stopped in place. The iridescent cloud that formed her mane, usually swaying gently in an imaginary breeze, now lay flat on her shoulders with its bright tones dulled to greyer shades. With a sigh, she bowed her head and turned back to look into Twilight's wide eyes.

"Know only this," she said quietly. "It is now more important than ever before that you find that spell.

"May Harmony be with you."

"Hey, Twilight, what's this?"

Twilight craned her neck across the aisle and squinted at the book held in Pinkie's hoof. "Looks like a cookbook, Pinkie."

"Okie-dokie!"

She rolled her eyes and went back to inspecting the shelf that she'd been looking at. With little else to do in preparation for the wedding, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash had been prime candidates to help her in searching the library. They didn't know exactly what they were searching for, but she'd given them enough information to let them know what it was when they found it. Assuming Princess Celestia remembered it correctly.

She paused and frowned. What was a cookbook doing in an ancient library, anyway? Her forehead creased as her eyes roved across the shelves on autopilot, but she eventually just shrugged. Probably just Pinkie's penchant for finding food.

"Hey, Twi." Dash waved a hoof from across the room, hovering by one of the upper shelves. "Come check this out!"

Twilight brightened and she slid down off of her ladder and onto the floor with a padded thump. She trotted over to where Rainbow had been searching. "What'd you find?"

"You're not gonna believe this," Dash said, beaming. "But take a look at this!"

Twilight found herself leaning forward, her grin stretching from ear to ear. Yes...yes...!

"Ta-da!"

She blinked, her smile melting off of her face. "That's a book," she said slowly, eyeing the object in Dash's hooves. "We're here to look for a scroll."

"Yeah, yeah." Dash waved a hoof and snorted, tossing her multicolor mane out of her eyes with a flick of her hoof. "Anyways, check it out!" Her eyes opened wide and she grinned from ear to ear, flipping through the pages of the book. "It's all about different flying techniques and stuff! I've got no idea how old it is, but I think I even caught mention of the Sonic Rainboom on one of the pages. How cool is that?" She hugged the book to her chest and closed her eyes happily.

Twilight stared. "...Really?"

"Yup!"

"...And you called me over for this."

Dash considered that for a moment before bobbing her head up and down. "Yup!"

"...Just keep looking for that scroll." Twilight groaned and turned back to her shelf, just about ready to collapse on the Archives' floor. "I know we've been looking for a few hours already, but please just keep looking. We can't stop now."

Dash's smile faded, and she even scowled slightly. "Well, fine!" With a grunt and a swish of her tail, she turned up her nose and hovered to an even higher shelf, making sure not to make eye contact.

Twilight sighed and got back to work.

"Princess Luna?"

Luna stopped in place and turned to face Twilight as she approached, her hooves clopping on the floor.

"I was wondering if you might have a moment to talk about that time spell you—"

If looks could kill, then the one on Luna's face now would have, at the very least, put Twilight deep into a coma. She stood frozen in place as the Princess slowly shook her head and walked on down the hallway.

Well, that didn't work.

"She should be in her office, I think."

"Thanks!" Twilight nodded appreciatively to Luna's night secretary, a pegasus named Moondust. She picked up her pace as she trotted away and was soon moving through the empty halls at a light canter. She finally came to a stop outside of the Offices of the Royal Princess—otherwise known to Celestia as "The Room of Infinite Paperwork." Doubtlessly, Luna was getting her own fair share of the workload at the moment. Maybe she'll be so happy to get away from it that she'll have to talk!

"Princess?" she called as she opened the door. "I—"

Luna looked up from her desk and glared, a quill levitating beside her. "I presume you are here to ask for the same thing, once again?"

Twilight felt her cheeks redden and gulped. "Erm..."

"Enough." Luna lifted a pile of papers from the table and dropped them with a crash. Her voice ran cold. "I have had enough of this foolishness. Please leave.”

“No.”

Luna looked up sharply. “Excuse me?”

"No." Twilight's voice shook, but she felt a current of steel beneath her words. She was not going to run away from this problem. It's time to confront her head-on.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Luna asked, gritting her teeth. "You have no right to—"

"I have every right." Twilight took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling as she withstood the Princess's steady gaze. "I know that you have bad memories. I know that it's personal and that under normal circumstances, I shouldn't even think of asking this of you." She shook her head. "But these aren't normal circumstances.

"I'm trapped. Stuck. Caged." She tried—and failed—to keep a sliver of ice from slipping into her tone. "No less than you were when Nightmare Moon was around."

Luna drew herself back, her wings flaring out defensively around her. "You dare—"

"Absolutely." Twilight's voice was grim, her mouth a flat line across her face. "I dare. Because I need help. I need your help.” She took a step forward, and Luna drew back. “And even once we've found your sister’s spell, we'll need you to help make it work. By your Celestia’s own account, you're far more experienced with time magic than she."

"This is true," Luna murmured, her eyes downcast. Her wings settled back over her shoulders. "However, I cannot understand the urgency of this situation.”

"I'm stuck in a prison and with no hope of escape." Twilight felt a small seed of resentment in her chest, and found it growing with each word she said. "There might not be metal bars or prison guards, but for all intents and purposes, I'm locked up more securely than Discord."

She shook her head. "But even so, it's not just about me. I don't know what happens from your perspective every time the loop resets, but all of Equestria—and maybe even more than that—is stuck here with me. So long as this goes on, nopony will ever be able to pass through this week ever again.” She stared straight into Luna’s eyes. “Forever."

Luna looked away, her face unreadable. "I...I didn’t—”

"And then something happened the other day which confirmed my suspicions."

Luna lifted her head. "Oh?"

Twilight nodded. "I was talking with your sister, and suddenly the universe twisted around us with a noise more painful than I could even imagine." Squeezed her eyes shut, the phantom pain echoing in her ears. "I don't know for sure what caused it, but I'm willing to bet that the universe isn't supposed to be bent in certain ways. This problem with time is anything but good, and for all we know, it might come crashing down around our heads."

"A Scream."

She looked up, the word alone raising goosebumps along the back of her neck. "What?"

Luna’s eyes were wide. “A Dimensional Scream. Something I have not seen since the rule of Discord himself.” There was a strange look on her face, and she gave an almost imperceptible nod. "I will assist you in every way that I can."

Twilight groaned and pushed her mane out of her face. She had no idea how long they'd been searching, or even how late it was—Rainbow Dash had long since fallen asleep on a bed of old books, much to her own disapproval. She shook her head and slapped her cheeks to try and keep herself awake. Just one more shelf...I'm sure I'll find it...

"Twilight!"

She sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Yes, Pinkie?"

"I found it!"

"Of course you did." Her eyelids drooped even further and she snuck a glance at Dash, who was snoring comfortably on her mound of paper. Sleep would sound really good right about now...

"No, I really did!" Pinkie sounded agitated. "Dusty old scroll? Check! Brown, scribbly paper? Check! Yucky old-book smell?" There came the sound of a loud, exaggerated sniff. "...Check?"

"Mmhm." Twilight nodded vacantly, her eyes roving up and down the shelves on autopilot as she shuffled down the aisle. "And the seal?"

"With a super-duper yellow sun right behind a cool-looking sand timer? You betcha!”

Twilight blinked once. Then twice. Three times.

She whirled around, her eyes wide and her words jumbling together. "You actually—"

"Yup!" Pinkie beamed, holding the scroll aloft with one hoof. "It took me a while, but here it is?"

Twilight's jaw dropped and her hooves shook as she stared at the scroll. It seemed to shine in the dim light, glimmering with the promise of hope. "But-but how? Where was it?"

"Well..." Pinkie said slowly, drawing out the word with relish. "I actually wasn't sure at first, 'cause I wanted to look under "S" for spell, but it wasn't there so I checked "M" for magic! I couldn't find it there, or even under "T" for time, so after a little while longer, I finally found it under "Q"!"

Twilight blinked. "...Q?"

Pinkie nodded. "Yup! For Quintessential Super-Dimensional Theory of Arcane Sealing for Chronological Malevolent Magicks."

She frowned and tilted her head as Twilight’s smile grew wider. “Well, either that or "Q" for quail. I'm not sure how it would have gotten there, though—that would be weird!"

"Twilight, I'd like you to meet Professor Brightmane."

Twilight's face broke out into a wide smile as a lithe, white-maned unicorn trotted into the room, his distinguished moustache bobbing up and down on  as he walked. "We've met."

The professor looked up, and his eyes widened. "My dear Twilight! It must have been years, hasn't it?" He held out a hoof, grinning from ear to ear. "How have you been?"

"I take it you two know each other?" Luna raised an eyebrow and inspected the pair, who were now happily exchanging pleasantries.

Twilight stopped chatting for a moment long enough to turn and answer her. "Oh, yes. He was my Physics professor at the Academy for Gifted Unicorns."

Brightmane chuckled and reached out to pat Twilight's shoulder. "Department Head, now. They wanted somepony with a bit of expertise in both science and magic to write the curriculum. I can't say I disapproved of their choice, of course." He winked and turned to the Princesses with a flourishing bow. "How do you do, your Majesties?"

"Quite well, Professor," Celestia said warmly. "It's a pleasure."

Luna inclined her head slightly. "Indeed."

"The pleasure's all mine!" Brightmane eyed Twilight up and down, and she soon noticed his eyes wandering over to the dusty old scroll resting on the table beside her. "Ah, there we go." He trotted up and inspected the paper, lowering his half-moon spectacles to get a closer look. "I suppose this is the reason for my visit?"

"As much as I'd like to exchange Academy gossip, that is indeed correct." Celestia smiled and nodded, her horn pointing toward the scroll. "Feel free to take a look." Seeing Brightmane's slightly confused expression, she quickly added, "There should be enchantments on it to prevent damage."

"Ah, very good. Most excellent." Brightmane rubbed his hooves together and licked his lips as a silver aura surrounded the scroll, lifting it into the air. "Old scrolls and such—one can never be too cautious. Delicate stuff, those."

"I would agree," Luna said stiffly. "It is good to meet one that values things of age properly. Too many of the ponyfolk in this age are too impatient and clumsy to be trusted with items of historic value."

"Oh, yes; absolutely,” Brightmane murmured, turning the scroll over in midair and looking it over with a close eye. Twilight stifled a snicker; his face was so close to the paper that it was a wonder his eyes weren't touching the ink! "My original doctorate was to be in Archaeology, you know. A pity I decided to major in the sciences instead."

Twilight frowned. "I thought you told me that you were originally a major in Political Science."

He waved a hoof, still engrossed in inspecting the exterior of the scroll. "Details, details." He hummed thoughtfully as he gave the paper a gentle prod and sniffed. "Mm. This is quite old. Just under one and a half thousand years, if I had my druthers. Papyrus?"

"Sugarcane, actually." Celestia cleared her throat. "Now, for the contents...?"

Brightmane flushed slightly. "Well, I merely wanted to gain a proper appreciation for the item's value, you understand—its historicity, you might say. But if you insist..." He sighed melodramatically and, slower than a grandmare unwrapping Hearth's Warming Eve presents, unraveled the scroll to peer inside.

"Hm...yes. Very well preserved. Fascinating." His eyebrows seemed to climb up past his mane as he reached the title and description, his mustache with each steady breath. "Oh, my. Well, this is quite interesting."

He turned to Twilight and scowled. "I thought I told you to come to me should you ever discover the secret to time travel, young mare." Luna struggled to hide a muffled gasp, and Celestia laughed quietly behind one hoof.

Twilight blinked and then broke into a cheeky grin. "Well, Professor. Last I checked, you'd been barred by the school's administration from running any practical experiments."

"Bah. That carriage would have been a complete success. It's hardly my fault those pegasi went too fast for the engine to handle." Brightmane snorted, and then quirked an eyebrow in her direction. "Am I correct, then, in assuming that this spell is to be used in removing some temporal effect from your person? I doubt it's for either of the Princesses."

She nodded. "Wow. How did you figure all that out?"

"Intuition, my dear." Brightmane chuckled and shook his head. "Should one read enough poorly-written essays, one begins to know what to expect." He licked his lips again and brushed his silver mane out of his eyes. "Now tell me, Miss Sparkle. What seems to be the problem?"

With a glance into Celestia's eyes and a nod from Luna, Twilight began her story. She told him everything: from the beginnings of the invasion to her efforts to defeat it; from her discovery of the loops to her first attempts to break free, and finally to her current situation.

"Mm." Brightmane's eyes stared off into space as he nodded vacantly. He whistled softly to himself. "A bit of a pickle you've got there. And you hope that this spell will set you free?"

Twilight hesitated, but bobbed her head up and down to confirm.

The professor broke out into a toothy grin. "Well, then. What kind of professor would I be if I didn't help my prized student out of a jam? How can I help?"

"By modifying the spell." Celestia stepped forward, her hoofsteps heavy on the wooden floor. She looked down at Twilight and Brightmane, her face serious. "I cast this spell with the aid of my Royal Mages almost a thousand years ago, but I am inexperienced with the actual mechanics of this branch of magic."

She nodded toward her sister, who stood by the edge of the room with a small frown on her face. "I used it once against the Nightmare, and while it is likely similar to what we need for this situation, it will need to be modified heavily to fit Twilight's current problem. Luna has much more experience with Chronomancy than I. Between your expertise and her own knowledge, we should be able to come up with a solution fairly easily."

Brightmane swallowed. "Well. Your Majesty, are you quite sure you'd like to give me that responsibility? I wouldn't be exactly sure what would happen if something went wrong, and surely there's someone else."

"Nonsense." This time, Luna took a step forward, her starry mane rippling around her head. "I have read much of your work, Professor Brightmane. Your research on relativistic magic and the celestial spheres is admirable. I have no doubt that you are perfectly qualified for this endeavor."

A thoughtful look passed his face, and Twilight felt a familiar rush in her gut as she watched the gears turn behind his eyes, his hoof tugging gently  at his moustache. "Mm...I'm quite flattered, Princess." He looked up into her eyes and grinned fiercely. "I would be honored to help."

"Wonderful." Celestia nodded toward the door and smiled. "We'll begin as soon as you are ready."

Twilight looked up at the stars from the palace balcony, their quiet light flickering over the city below. She smiled softly to herself as a comet crossed the night sky and flared up in the atmosphere. The night sky might look like it's standing still, but it's always moving...and soon, I'll join it once again.

Her ears perked up as she heard hoofsteps behind her. She turned around and paused as she recognized her visitor. "Princess Luna!"

"A good evening to you, Twilight Sparkle." The princess carried herself with an air of dignity and grace that had been absent on Nightmare Night, all that time ago. She offered a small nod and looked out over the city, her mane flickering in the chill night air. "It is indeed a lovely night, is it not?"

Twilight smiled. "It's beautiful, Princess. Especially the constellations. On such a clear night, you can see everything from the Warrior to the Mage."

"Equius Nocturne and the Wind-Mare," Luna said softly.

Twilight blinked. "Huh?"

"They are the names of my time, changed in the present day to the more familiar names that you know." Luna pointed toward the constellation of the Warrior, the tip of her horn lighting up with a soft, eerie glow. "Equius Nocturne was a great knight, one who I immortalized in the stars following his passing.”

Twilight's eyes widened. "Really? I never knew that!"

"Indeed." A small smile twitched on Luna’s face as she gazed up at the constellation, its stars twinkling down from above. "He was a suitor of mine, did you know?"

"No."

"Strong," she murmured. "Courageous. Chivalrous. Everything a warrior of the Sun should be—yet he held a bizarre fascination with the night and a special place for the Moon in his heart." She shook her head, laughing softly. "I took him as a lover, once."

"And then what happened?" Twilight almost hit herself as the words tumbled out of her mouth. Stupid! Don't try to pry into Luna's private life.

"He died."

Her mouth went dry.

Luna turned her head slightly and gave her a cool look. "Do not regret your question, Twilight Sparkle. As an immortal, I am always reminded of the impermanence of the world in which I reside." She sighed, a deep, heavy sound that seemed to shake her entire body. "One day, perhaps even I may pass. The night sky is ever-changing, after all."

She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, her mane shimmering in the silvery light. "Did you know that the constellations change?"

Twilight shook her head. "I think I read something about it at one point, but I never really looked into it much." She grinned sheepishly. "Er...sorry."

"Don't be." Luna sniffed and closed her eyes. "The shift in their patterns take centuries, if not millenia or more. Yet they do indeed change, and the Moon, locked in a cycle of birth and death, is the most variable and dynamic of them all."

Before Twilight could speak, Luna lifted a hoof and continued to speak. "All things in this world must change. Who was I, in my lust for power, pride, and envy, to imagine that I could overturn the natural order of things?" She shook her head. "Nay. Twas a perversion to stop the Moon in its place, forcing night upon the populace for my own selfish whims."

She smiled sadly. "I told you once that I was glad that you stopped me—overjoyed, even. For what would I have gone on to do if not for your aid?" She bowed her head. "I would have doomed all of Equestria to the fate that you now hold."

Twilight turned to look out over the city. She could see the lights flickering as ponies played and ran through the dark streets. "You mean this time loop?"

"Indeed." Luna said with a frown. "For the flow of time to be stuck in this way is...most troubling." She was quiet for a moment.

"Do you know from whence came the time spell that my sister used?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, actually. She said that her court's unicorns and mages worked to create it, and that she cast it to stop Nightmare Moon's spell, but she didn't tell me anything else."

She looked up. “Celestia said that you were more experienced with Chronomancy—I guess that means ‘time magic’.” She tilted her head. “Were you the first one to work with it, then?”

Luna drew a heavy breath, her lithe frame shuddering as she looked out over the city. "I was not the creator of such magic," she said quietly. "That honor—or curse—went to a creature much older and more powerful than I."

"Who?"

Luna turned to face her, her eyes old and tired. "I believe you are familiar with him. He did, after all, wreak havoc upon your town scarce months ago."

Twilight's eyes widened, and she couldn't prevent the small squeak that escaped her throat. "Discord?"

"Correct." Luna looked down, gazing at the busy streets and nightlife below. "When he reigned over Equestria, chocolate rain and ballerina buffaloes were the least of our troubles." She sighed and shook her head. "Discord is more powerful than Celestia or I alone; he is an avatar of entropy and disorder. More often than not, his powers controlled him, rather than the other way around. Under his rule, Equestria itself was broken and torn, and nearly beyond repair.”

Twilight took a moment to digest that before Luna spoke again.

"Physics broke down. Reality ceased to make sense." Her eyes flickered over the horizon. "You of all ponies must know the relationship between the fabric of space, and the sands of time. It is a connection as strong as that between my Moon and my sister's Sun."

"So he was able to influence time as well?"

She nodded. "Yes. It wasn't common, but all over Equestria—and in some places beyond—bits and pieces of Discord's power had broken off, twisting the flow of time in certain areas.

"Whole villages were forced to relive the same day over and over," she went on, her eyes dark and haunted. "The ponies within were barely alive and were returned to their beds each morn, unable to escape. Any travelers that ventured within the bounds of such a place were...caged as well. In some places, time passed more slowly; in others, more quickly. The land was bleeding, cut by wounds of chaos and disharmony. Had Discord retained his throne longer, or succeeded in his resurgence in Ponyville..." The unsaid promise hung in the air, and Twilight swallowed as memories spun in her head of a dark shadow and a malevolent cackle.

"It sounds...pretty terrible," she finally said in a small voice.

"Indeed it was." Luna shook her head and looked up at the stars. "You can hardly imagine the consequences of his power. The universe seemed to twist and howl as Discord's power destroyed it—that is the origin of the Dimensional Scream which you and my sister experienced before." She let her shoulders slump. "Even after he had disappeared, as I wandered amongst the remnants of his power, I could not help but feel as though there was something watching me: an echo of Time yet lost in the holes of reality.

"Following his defeat, some concentrations of chaos magic yet lingered. In my younger, foolish naïeveté, I sought to study it, learning of the source of his power. My sister sought to forbade my curiosity, but she held no real power to do so. She would later use my newfound knowledge and abandoned notes as a way to construct a spell that would combat the dark magic of the Nightmare, formed from my own memories of that magic.” She smiled weakly, and a deep blue aura flickered at the tip of her horn. "It was in the ashes of Discord's defeat that I discovered the schools of chronomancy and transmutation: the manipulation of time, and of matter. What he had done by accident, derived from his nature, I was eventually persuaded to give to my subjects as well."

She snorted and tossed her mane to the side. "I believe that nowadays, there exists some form of a transmutation spell to transform objects into oranges. Hardly the most dignified use for what I created all those millenia ago."

Twilight chuckled. “I guess not.”

The corner of Luna's mouth twitched upward into a small grin. "At the least, however, I believe that even such silly spells have their place—such as in the fun that you showed me at Nightmare Night, and in strengthening the bonds you hold with your friends. Those activities brought me…great joy.”

Her cheeks tinged a slight red.

She startled as Twilight leaned over and nuzzled her side. "I was happy to, Princess. And remember that you're welcome back in Ponyville any time."

The smile grew on Luna's face, and she gazed back into Twilight's eyes. "I...Should our endeavor tomorrow be successful, and the wedding proceed without trouble, I..."

"Yes?"

"I would be most honored."

The sun was still rising past the horizon as Twilight stepped out into the lush expanse of the Palace gardens, the bright colors of the sunrise playing across the sky above her. She smiled and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath of warm, fresh air as the grass crumpled beneath her hooves.

Today is the day.

"Three down, one to go."

Twilight opened her eyes. "Princess Luna! Princess Celestia!"

Luna’s eyes were slightly tired after a full night of watching over Canterlot, but her smile was warm and honest. "A good morning to you as well, Twilight."

Twilight's eyes swept over the pair again, and she frowned. "Wait, where's Professor Brightmane? Doesn't he need to be here?"

Celestia stood by a marble fountain, her mouth twitching upward in a cheeky grin. "It would appear that the good Professor has overslept. He should only be a few minutes, I believe."

"A few minutes, my hairy flank! I'm here, your Majesties." Brightmane came galloping into the garden, his moustache and mane bouncing up and down with each cantankerous stride. His chest heaved, sweat dripping down his neck as he stopped and raised a handkerchief to wipe his forehead. "My apologies for being late. I ran into a...complication on the way."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What kind of complication, Professor?" she asked innocently.

He snorted. "Those pillows had no right to be so damn comfortable." With a flourish of his tail, he produced the old scroll, levitating it to Celestia with a hint of reverence in his eyes. "The spell is complete, Princess."

"Good." Celestia smiled down at him, her ethereal mane shimmering in the morning light. She turned to face her sister. "The two of you made all of the necessary modifications?"

"We did," Luna replied. "My arcane knowledge proved useful, but Profesor Brightmane was a great asset with his knowledge of thaumaturgy and the physical sciences."

"Oh, please." Brightmane snorted and raised a hoof to tweak his moustache, his cheeks a faint red. "The Princess did everything, really. I was just there to check the equations."

"Equations that I did not even realize existed until you showed them to me," Luna corrected him.

Celestia's smile grew broader. "Wonderful. So it is in this scroll, then?"

Brightmane's head bobbed up and down pleasantly. "Yes, indeed! There was enough space at the bottom to fit in some extra scrapwork, and I figured that reshaping the ambient magic involved would be easier if we had the original spall matrix to work with, so..." His jaw clamped shut as Twilight realized that he was struggling to prevent the flood of jargon about to burst out of his mouth. She snickered, and he shot her a withering glare.

"Anyway," he went on, taking a moment to adjust his bowtie, "Myself and your sister will be the ones to cast the spell, while you'll help provide the power as you did when you first used it."

"And me?" Twilight cut in. She frowned, feeling a bit left out. "What will I be doing?"

Brightmane spun to face her and quirked one white, bushy eyebrow in her direction. "You, Miss Sparkle, will sit quietly as we cast the spell upon you." He smirked. "Is that a satisfactory answer?"

Twilight stuck her tongue out at him, but nodded.

"Marvelous. Now, if you'll give us a few minutes to construct the necessary setting..."

She watched with no small amount of interest as Brightmane got down on his knees and began to draw strange shapes into the ground, constantly referring back to his notes on the scroll as his horn lit up in different colors, flashing brightly with each shade of the rainbow. Beside him, Luna chanted something softly under her breath; a string of tiny, royal blue chain links formed at the tip of her horn and slowly wove themselves into a braid as they descended toward the ground with each new link formed.

Finally, after some time spent pacing in a circle around a particular area in the dirt, Brightmane looked up and gave Twilight a nod. “If you would come over here, Miss Sparkle?”

Twilight obliged him and trotted over. “Right.” She felt hopeful—really. This time, it’s going to work. It has to. She struggled to ignore the sliver of doubt that wormed its way through her mind, and kept the smile on her face.

“Very good,” Brightmane murmured. He looked up at Luna and nodded. “Princess, if you’ll begin the spell?”

Luna inclined her head slightly in return, and the assembly of glowing chain links levitated into the air, coming to a rest around Twilight’s neck. She gasped: they felt warm, humming with a strange kind of energy against her coat. As the sensation strengthened, the space around her seemed to dim, the colors turning into grayer, paler shades.

“Good, good,” the professor muttered, his eyes darting over her still form. “The separation field seems to be in order.” He clapped his hooves. “Now, let us begin.”

Twilight could barely tell what happened next; everything seemed to meld together into a single, continuous event. One moment, a dim light was flickering at the end of Brightmane’s horn, and the next she was hovering in the air before Luna, the princess’s eyes glowing a deep, unfathomable blue. Luna’s mouth worked silently as she stared into Twilight’s eyes, her deep blue horn surrounded by a sheath of glimmering magic. The symbols that had been carved into the ground began to flicker in a variety of colors, the most prominent being a rusty shade of red that glowed dimly in the growing light.

To Twilight’s eyes, the air around her twisted and shimmered until she seemed to be looking at the others through a clouded window. She could hear a dull roar in her ears, a steady beat pounding in time in her head.

Celestia raised her head, closed her eyes, and joined her magic to the spell.

The air flickered a bright gold and hazed over as though filled with a great heat. It twisted even further until Twilight could barely make out the Princess’ shape.

A dull hum rose in her ears until it suffused the garden, reverberating as the world seemed to twist and dance around her. In the distance, she could see a small, twinkling light. She squinted in an effort to see it better and gasped as the world fell away.

The colors faded even further until the scenery was nothing but grey and white; a foal’s empty coloring book with nothing between the lines. Celestia, Luna, and Brightmane faded too until they were little more than faint silhouettes. The roar in the background increased in intensity until it filled Twilight’s head, and she flinched as her temples began to ache. No. I need to stay strong.

She looked up at where the sky had once been and watched in awe as the stars emerged from the darkness, their faint lights moving across the sky like endless grains of sand, the faint shadows of the moon and sun chasing one another across the sky in an eternal dance.

Her eyes widened as something new made itself visible to her eyes: around her were long white threads stretching from the ground and trailing into the skies.

She swiveled her head around to get a better look and took a deep breath. The strands weren't one dimensional—far from it. Instead, an infinite array of looping, twirling strands covered the land for as far as she could see.

One in particular caught her eye: it stood before her, towering high above her head. It held a pattern of concentric circles, each linked to the others by a series of infinitesimally thin lines. As she stared up into its depths, something seemed to push at her mind. This was more than a symbol: more than an artful design. It meant something.

But what?

The silhouettes of the others had long since disappeared by this point, and Twilight stood alone in a pure white void, gazing up at the titanesque shapes that rose before her. For reasons she could not fathom, moisture had gathered at the corners of her eyes, and her mouth had fallen open. The shapes were beautiful...but incomplete. Stopped. Frozen.

As she looked at them with awe, she could barely make out an errant twitch —a ripple in the immense clockwork of time—but only out of the corner of her eye.

And then the Sun burst into existence above her head.

She took a step back in reflex, the heat warming her coat as the new light danced in her eyes. The glared down at her, its golden glow reflecting off of the blank white pattens that surrounded her. Behind it was a dark blue glow. The moon’s light twisted with the sunbeams, striking the land. As Twilight watched, the patterns began to shine with a deep, pulsating glow.

And then, with an errant twitch of her ear, she heard it: a crack. And then another. And another.

She flung her head upward back toward the immense patterns and her jaw dropped even lower—if she could even be said to have a mouth in this place. The single line that she had first noticed was shuddering in place, as if awakening from a long slumber. Many of its loops and strands creaked loudly as they shifted, ever so slightly, beginning to twitch from their position. Slowly but surely, the shapes began to move, circles picking up speed as they swirled within their larger partners, the lines and shapes within each dancing around one another.

Each pattern came to life in turn, each part awakening like a rusted-over machine, moving with the grace of an old stallion that had learned once more how to walk. The sun and moon flared brightly far above, and the landscape shook as Time, somehow, began to turn again.

There was a twinkle of green light in the distance.

Twilight's smile froze in place andvanished as the patterns creaked again, even louder, and slowed in their turning. The sound became louder, more intense, and the circles trembled in place as though being restrained by an unseen force. The sun and moon flared up even brighter, and Twilight flinched back, covering her eyes as their light grew to an intensity that she could barely withstand.

Yet the patterns continued to slow, their movement vanishing as a sense of strain and tension filled her body. She squeezed her eyes shut, the sheer sensation splitting her thoughts and squeezing her brain in a vise.

Something snapped.

Her eyes snapped open, and she watched in horror as one of the largest circles of Time splintered, its crest beginning its descent to the ground below. In the distance, she could see others cracking down the sides and middle, fracturing as the tension grew too great.

All around her danced shades of brilliant green, bolts of lightning striking the ground and cracking the earth.

The patterns continued to shatter and fall. Twilight's eyes opened wide as she felt a dull hum begin in her ears, gradually escalating in pitch and volume until it filled her whole body. She let out a primal shout, all coherent thought driven from her mind as the Dimensional Scream wracked her form. Although she wasn't sure, she thought that she could hear screaming—the voices of the Princesses and the professor—echoing in the recesses of her mind.

She tried to run, but her legs were too sluggish. She tried to drag herself away, but her nerves, broken and fried from the impact of the Scream, were too numb to act. She could only lay there, broken and exhausted, as the lingering static made her limbs twitch and jump uncontrollably.

With a final, thunderous smash, a crack split down the center of each towering structure. The tension reached a peak, the Scream at a crescendo in her ears—

And then the world cracked, and Twilight shattered into a million pieces. She fell, speeding through a blank, endless void filled with a throbbing green light. She fell, blind, deaf, and mad with agony.

She fell for a long time.